Normalization of relations with Turkey

10 December 2012 - 7:52am

Author: Petr Lyukimson, Israel, exclusively to VK

In a conversation with VK a senior Israeli Foreign Ministry official confirmed that the removal of Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon was connected to his scandalous behaviour towards the Turkish Ambassador in 2010.

According to the source, by eliminating Ayalon from the list of Knesset candidates from the party "Israel Our Home", the chairman of the party and foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman tried to make it clear to Turkey that Israel is ready to open a new page in relations with this country. Immediately after the elections in January 2013 (no one in Israel has any doubts about their results) Lieberman intends to take a number of steps to promote the normalization of Israeli-Turkish relations. In this regard, the Foreign Ministry has already held several meetings and consultations with leading Israeli experts on Turkey. The decisions taken in the course of these meetings so far, of course, remain secret.

Other sources have claimed that the problems of Israeli-Turkish relations were also discussed at the recent meeting of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The content of this conversation again has not been disclosed, but it can be assumed that Israel will try to use Germany as a mediator to resolve the "Turkish problem".